Why is it that we so often struggle to remember jokes? Well, when we listen to jokes we are usually so busy enjoying them that we don’t give a moment’s thought to committing them to memory.

Summarizing a joke visually, either by translating it into a scene or by linking it imaginatively with an appropriate image, is one way to fix it more firmly in our minds. In theory, we have only to recall the image and the joke will spring back to life, assuming that it’s a memorable joke in the first place. But how can we be sure of recollecting our visual trigger? Imagine you find yourself chatting with a friend about the circus, and deep in the back of your mind lies a joke about a lion tamer. You attempted, many months ago, to commit this joke to memory by linking it with a vivid image of the lion tamer swallowed by the lion – a fate which only just escapes him in the joke itself. But because you have forgotten that you once heard and tried to memorize this joke, your friend’s references to circuses are not enough to trigger the memory of the image. And so you miss the opportunity to amuse.

remember jokes

What, then, can we do to ensure that the joke we once memorized springs to mind exactly when we want it? The answer is that we must consciously build a repertoire of jokes and rehearse them from time to time until they all become second nature to us. Whatever memory technique is used thus becomes a kind of scaffolding, it is useful for the preparatory stage, building the repertoire , but can be discarded once the whole body of jokes is well established in our mind. To build your repertoire, use the this method . Say your house or apartment has 10 rooms; you might add to this a friend’s house or apartment to give you 20 rooms, or 20 positions, in your overall journey. Attach an image to each new joke that you learn, and place each image mentally in the next room you come to, going around the houses in your predetermined sequence.

Tell five different people each new joke, soon after you have heard it: this also helps to fix the memory. And from time to time rehearse your whole repertoire of 20 jokes once you have filled both houses. In time these jokes will become as familiar to you as the alphabet, and you will be able to summon up any of them whenever the occasion arises.

Anecdotal and Word-based Jokes

Jokes often take the form of mini stories, in which case a single vivid image may not be enough to remember them by. The solution might be to attach an image to each separate episode within the joke, then imaginatively link each image to a particular feature within the room to which you have assigned the joke as a whole.

And now if you have been reading attentively, you should be able to memorize as many jokes as you want.

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